As you may have noticed, I have a couple sections for work at home jobs. First, and long established is the legitimate work at home job lead sections. For the past couple months I have had been posted unresearched work at home job leads, primarily from Craigslist, but also from other sources.

Well, I decided that it was time to combine them just a little bit. For those categories that have a legitimate section, I have taken advantage of the RSS feed of the unresearched jobs so that recent posts show up as unresearched on the legit pages.

Hopefully this will help those who are looking for a legitimate job to take a look at more of the possibilities that are out there. There is so much competition for all work at home jobs that it really helps if you can see the wide range out there.

Of course, I’m always on the lookout for legitimate companies to add, but it’s quite challenging to find companies that regularly hire people to work from home. However, they are out there.

If you’re still looking for a work at home job, keep at it. If you have one, why not join the forum and share your experience with those who are still looking?

Ariel and I are taking a class called “Math and Science Together” right now. It’s through the Ready to Learn Project, and we’re having a lot of fun with it.

Now, this isn’t heavy duty stuff… in fact, the goal is to show parents how well they can prepare their toddlers to learn math and science in school. For example, today we put vinegar in a bottle, used a funnel to put baking soda in a ballon, then put the ballon over the mouth of the bottle, dumping the baking soda into the vinegar. The vinegar fizzes up, and the balloon is filled with gas. Kids love that stuff, of course.

It’s really nice how the kids are allowed to explore on their own, and parents get ideas for what to do with them. We are separated into 4 groups, and we spend 15 minutes in each one of four rooms, and there are several projects for the kids to try in each, so there’s no pressure if your child just isn’t interested in one particular project.

This is aimed at 3-5 year olds, and I really feel that 4 is about the perfect age. When we did the Readiing and Writing Together class a few months ago, Ariel was interested in nothing other than having me read to her. I think if we did it together now she might take more of an interest in the writing and storytelling part.

There’s homework too! We’re measuring the roots of a young spider plant growing in water, we grew a bean in a ziploc bag in the window, and we get handouts with a variety of suggestions.

I think one of these days here soon I’ll make a section going over some of the ideas I’m getting from these classes. After all, what parent doesn’t need ideas to keep the kids busy?

Now that Ariel has had a little time to enjoy her birthday presents, I find it interesting to see what her favorites are. Thought I’d share some of them with you.

No surprise to me, she loved all the craft supplies. Most of the time I just let her do whatever she likes with them, although today we are working on a project from the Little Kids Craft ebook that she really enjoys. We’re making a paper plate ladybug. Just waiting for the paint to dry right now. I bought a $5 toolbox from Walmart (clear white and green plastic) and filled it with pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, pompoms, paints, glitter and so forth. The individual supplies were pretty cheap, but boy do they add up! However, since this will keep her busy much of the summer and I’d end up buying most of these over time anyhow, I consider it an excellent investment.

She also got beads, which she enjoys but gets frustrated with too.

Of the games she recieived, Hi Ho Cherry-O seems to be the favorite. She also likes Hungry, Hungry Hippos, but that one scares Gage, so we don’t play it too much.

She and Gage both love the big thing of sidewalk chalk. That’s just a nice, easy activity. It’s nice to have something Gage can do with her. Chalk doesn’t taste good enough for him to put it in his mouth very often.

Of course, the absolute favorite isn’t a toy. It’s Gus and Jaq, the two mice she picked out. We gave her a cage and Daddy took her to the pet store to decide what to put in it. Cinderella has mice, so of course my little Cinderella wannabe wanted mice too. I think Gage likes them even better than Ariel, though. He’s always been such a quiet baby, but when he sees those mice he squeals and babbles like crazy.

Other than that, she mostly got clothes, and I don’t think you need a review of those (although there are some definite favorites!).

One of the changes I’ve been wanting to get to was making the primary navigation clearer on this site. Hopefully I have accomplished it now with improved grouping, and changing the color of primary categories, so that you can more easily see the focus of various areas.

It always amazes me how long these little changes can take. i worked six years in a jewelry store, and that made me very concious of small changes in color, so I tend to spend a very long time picking colors. I didn’t want to add yet another color to the site at first glance, so I chose a green for the primary categories that I hope goes well with the green at the top of the site. It’s not taken directly from there, although I did try that solution. That gave me too light a green for my tastes.

Keeping this site user friendly as I grow it isn’t easy. Adding the new bargains section has been a lot of work; in fact, in recent months I’ve greatly increased how much work this site needs, as the unresearched work at home job leads section also takes quite a bit of time. However, as I think they greatly add to the overall value of this site, they should prove to be well worth the time. Besides, there’s something really fun about finding a great new deal or possible job opportunity that I really enjoy.

I signed Ariel up for some summer classes recently, which got me to thinking about how many activities some parents sign their kids up for. She’s signed up for two swimming classes - vital, as my in-laws have a swimming pool that is not fenced off from the rest of their back yard, and an acting class.

My basic goal is just to have something special for her to do when school is not in session. There are a variety of classes I want her to take as she gets older, such as some sort of self defense, but mostly I want it to be things she chooses to take.

However, you always hear about parents who complain that they have no time for themselves because they’re spending so much time running from activity to activity with their kids. That can be a symptom of overparenting.

Take a look at what your kids do. Do they have time for themselves or are they always in some sort of formal activity? Think back to your own childhood. Maybe that was how you were raised or maybe you had lots of free time to be yourself.

Free time to themselves is one of the gifts you can give your children. They need to know how to entertain themselves. There is nothing wrong with letting your kids play in the backyard or even in the front yard if they’re old enough and the neighborhood is appropriate.

Remember that if your kids are used to being entertained by other activities, they won’t be able to come up with their own ideas for something to do so easily. That means when they are between activities, you are a lot more likely to get the “Mom, I’m bored!” complaint. A child who is used to playing games, being creative or even just sitting and reading doesn’t get bored quite as easily. Yes, you will still hear the classic complaint, but your child will be more ready to handle quieter time themselves.

Don’t protect them too much from failure either. Let them suffer consequences as neccessary. Kids really aren’t as fragile as many parents think. My daughter gets so mad at me when I tell her to do something herself when she’s insisting that she cant’. I’m not talking about tying her shoes… she’s only 4, after all, and it will be time soon enough for that one. I’m talking about days when she wants me to draw a circle for her because she doesn’t think she can, or rather, doesn’t want to. The frustration is very good for her. How fast would she learn to draw circles if I did all of them for her?

Let your children suffer frustration, fail at tasks they are trying to learn. Let them be embarrassed sometimes. Children get over these problems more easily if they are familiar. You know that as an adult you fail sometimes, get frustrated and even get embarrasses. You learned to deal with that as a child. Do your children the same favor. Don’t make their lives too easy or overly managed.